Euronext annoucned that they’re going to list put options on Pershing Square Holdings (Bill Ackman’s listing in Amsterdam).
I wonder what you guys think about it?
Did you watch Ackman’s Bloomberg interview before Herbalife’s Q1 results - he was exceptionally confident that Herbalife will have a terrible quarter. Instead Herbalife jumped 19% on the day of announcement and has only been trending up since.
Take on Pershing Square in general?
Ackman’s a smart guy but his focus on HLF is going to ruin him if he’s not careful.
He should have (fully) closed his positions last year when he finally realized a nice gain - this whole white knight taking on a shady company with other people’s money is really bizzare to me.
i feel the white knight is juss a front. its really about his pride. he had a lot of major fights with some other titans (loeb and icahn). both making him sound like a whiny person. but yea. ackman is great. smart. hes got a few good youtube vids.
^
which youtube vids? I’m not a fan of Ackman’s at all, but would like to have my opinion changed on him
+1 on pride but I’m told he’s settled his disputes with icahn
he did. thats actually one of the youtube vids. anyways here are some of it:
ackman’s primer on investing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEDIj9JBTC8
charlie rose interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLjKP1v2Rwk
ackman and icahn interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1PYvaCa2o4
Said Business school interview - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnh0TmyVG9A
the best to me was the primer even though it was basic knowledge. how he explained could be taught to a 10 year old.
I quite like his oxford interview - maybe I’m biased because it’s oxford but still.
And ackman/icahn interview - didn’t see the link you shared but if it’s the one when they had arguments on live tv, then it’s not worth watching. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t care what the world or one of the bigget investor thinks of me - let alone get into such heated arguments on live tv. Too much ego. Although in this case I blame icahn more than I blame ackman.
its not. its them making up. if you’re a big fan of either. you need to check it out. worht the hour.
OMFG - Euronext’s weekly says they’ve pulled their proposal to quote options on pershing square. Nobody in Amsterdam or london was willing to market make.
And that is after knowing a few shitty firms that’ll do anything - this is a surprise
OMFG - Euronext’s weekly says they’ve pulled their proposal to quote options on pershing square. Nobody in Amsterdam or london was willing to market make.
And that is after knowing a few shitty firms that’ll do anything - this is a surprise
No doubt, what is this guy’s trip?? Becoming emotional / vindictive in one’s investment decisions isn’t smart.
Its a fight against Icahn…but to be fair the short play is only a few years in…probably still in it for another 3 years so eff the trends happening right now…he bet it would go to zero…could still happen if the company is fundamentally flawed.
^Yes, LTCM’s strategy was also theoretically valid - look what happened to them…
Moral of the story: Don’t fight the market, cut your losses and move on.
Ackman finally gave up on his crazy Herbalife war…
You guys seeing the headlines? 
My Dow Jones feed: “Ackman is losing investors at a rapid pace and facing a future that would no longer include managing a hedge fund.” People are bailing on Pershing, assets dropped from $20B to $8B.
Yea I saw it in seeking alpha. I feel bad for ackman. I really liked his videos. Don’t really like his portfolio though!!
assets dropping down to $8B but he is still a billionaire and with $8B his fund is considered very big and he will be milking that mgmt fee of $120M every year. But the guy is annoying.
Who’s winning between Ackman and Paulson?
In the race to the bottom? That’s a hard one. I really dislike Ackman. He just sucks at his job. But, Paulson didn’t stay in his lane (though he’s getting back to M&A now that everything else failed) and got kicked in the balls.
Ackman is a genius. How the F did he get people to pay him all this money to just not do anything? That takes real talent.
LTCM’s initial strategy was valid, and even true arbitrage. The problem is that they shifted strategy into risk, once their old strategy ran its course. If they were just trading mispricing between off and on the run Treasuries, like they did initially, they would not have blown up (but also eventually would have ceased to make money).
It seems like all these hedge funds have a few years of shelf lif until the strategy gets overcrowded and there are no more excess returns.